


The Bed is On Fire

by AuthenticAussie



Series: Semi-Related Shenanigans [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Comedy, Denial of Feelings, M/M, One sided Zoro/Luffy, One-Sided Relationship, Previous one sided Johnny/Zoro, Realisation of feelings, general bad language from Zoro and Sanji, should have expected that letting Ace near it after all, the bed gets set on fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-08 15:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1946118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthenticAussie/pseuds/AuthenticAussie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ace comes to stay, sets the poor bed on fire, and Zoro realizes that he has FEELINGS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bed is On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> -whispers-  
> I had to I'm sorry.

Realising that he had feelings for Luffy was a bit like running into a brick wall. At one point, his mind was perfectly happy strolling along, completely ignorant of anything coming up ahead or following him behind, and even as the first inklings of realisation started tickling his mind, Zoro instead choose to ignore them, going a bit faster to try and pretend that he wasn’t growing to attached to his friend.

Then came the night of Ace’s stay. The day itself had gone quite well; picking Ace up from his charter boat hadn’t ended in disaster, and Ace had gotten along well with Zoro. Seeing the two brothers together, excitedly chattering away and catching up on everything that they’d missed while apart had made a funny sort of smile pull Zoro’s features, and a sort of tingly feeling run from his gut to his spine and around to his fingers.

Maybe he had food poisoning.

Thoughts of food poisoning were put on hold as Sanji made a veritable _feast_ for the group, Vivi managing to keep a hold on her ethereal form and stay all the way until dessert came to the table. At that point, she started flickering in and out, and Sanji assured the blue haired girl he’d bring her food up to her room. While it did dampen the ruckus and joyful storytelling of before, Luffy suggested that they all move up to Vivi’s room to eat dessert and the conversations picked up again soon enough, everyone happy to deal with the slightly packed arrangement.

Ace and Luffy were the last of the group to retire for the night, Zoro just having gone to bed before the two, and he could still hear them laughing and talking quietly in Luffy’s room, making him smile as he started drifting off to sleep. Sure, he wouldn’t appreciate it tomorrow night, when he was exhausted, but for tonight just the quiet sound of Luffy’s happy voice the room over was enough to lull him to dreamland.

Until Luffy started yelling and Ace began to swear profusely.

Jumping from his bed in a panic, Zoro quickly grabbed Wado and sprinted from the room, almost clipping his knee on the couch as he threateningly brandished his katana at...

The bed?

The _flaming bed_.

“ _What the hell did you guys do!?_ ” He shouted, thoroughly confused and shocked enough to wave his blade around in exasperation.

“Zoro!” Luffy yelped, quickly attaching himself to the human and narrowly avoiding getting himself impaled, “Ace was talking and then I was talking and then Ace was telling an angry story and then his arms started sparking which was cool but then the bed got set on fire which-” pause, breath, wave of hands that almost hit Zoro in the head, “wasn’t as cool because it’s on _fire._ Zoro, help!”

Understanding about three words from Luffy’s rushed babble, ‘bed,’ ‘fire,’ and ‘Ace’, Zoro resolved to never let Ace near anything flammable. Ever.

As the bed fire was currently a higher priority than trying to figure out exactly what had happened, Zoro sprinted from the room, Luffy still determinedly attached to him, and dropped his sword on the table, grabbing the first thing he could see in the kitchen that could possibly help with putting out the fire. It turned out to be the fruit bowl, which he dumped the fruit out of and quickly filled with water, before grabbing the spaghetti pot from a few nights ago and shoving it at Luffy. “Fill this up and then come throw it on the fire!” He ordered, pulling the vampire off him.

“Where the hell are the sprinklers?!” Zoro shouted angrily to the floor as he raced back to Luffy’s bedroom, and he heard a thump from what was probably Sanji hitting the ground.

As soon as he ran into the room he chucked the water over the bed, but as no sizzling sound met his ears, he turned and stared at what had previously been a bed on fire.

Hearing Luffy thump up behind him, he side-stepped the vampire and let his head drop in his hands as the boy threw the nearly empty pot of water over his brother. Ace was standing sheepishly – and now dripping wet – next to the charred remains of Luffy’s previously brightly coloured bed.

“I got it out,” Ace said, as though it weren’t already obvious, and Zoro resolved never to stay near the pointy eared fire imp when he was angry, unless said fire imp would realise that whatever he was near was starting to smoulder.

A loud pounding came at the front of the door, and as Luffy went to go apologise to Ace, laughter in his voice, Zoro shouted, “I’m coming!” and headed for the door. Opening it – and almost receiving a kick in the face that was likely meant to open the door before Sanji stopped himself, - Zoro looked out to see the concerned inhabitants of the building.

“Ace set the bed on fire,” Zoro said in explanation, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “And get the damn sprinklers fixed, would you, you shitty cook?”

Tired beyond belief from the scare, and seeing that everyone wanted to press for details, he shut the door in their faces and sighed. Rubbing at his forehead again, he made his way back to Ace and Luffy, whom – while looking a bit wet in Ace’s case, and a bit tired in Luffy’s – hadn’t sustained any injuries, thankfully.

“So,” Zoro started as soon as he got back, “I want to know what happened but I’m exhausted so I don’t really care.”

Ace’s sheepish expression returned, and Zoro continued, regardless. “How you expect to find some other place to sleep is beyond me. Do you want to take my bedroom? I’ll go and sleep on the couch.”

“I couldn’t take your room!” Ace exclaimed, raising his hands, “I’ll go sleep on the couch.”

“Oo, Oo, can I sleep in Zoro’s room? It’ll be a sleepover! Or we could all fit in Zoro’s room, right?”

“Where would we all _sleep?_ ” Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow at Luffy’s logic.

Luffy looked downcast for a minute, pouting slightly, but as Ace gathered up the slightly charred but still usable pillow, he attached himself to Zoro’s arm and batted puppy dog eyes at the swordsman. “I can still sleep in your room though, right Zoro? I wanna have a sleep over!”

Feeling his cheeks heat, the green-haired human quickly looked away from Luffy’s puppy-dog eyes and assured himself that he wasn’t exactly giving in because he wanted Luffy to stop looking so sad, and he most definitely was still very manly no matter how red he could feel his ears getting, or the tingles that once again started racing through his arm.

Food poisoning, obviously.

Had to be food poisoning.

“ _Fine_ ,” he groused, seeing crocodile tears gather in Luffy’s eyes and a whimper heard from the other, and the vampire cheered, sprinting off to probably steal Zoro’s bed. A rueful sigh and a smile flickered across Zoro’s features, and he rolled his eyes, bypassing the kitchen to pick up his sword before heading back to bed.

Ace watched him go, an appraising, thoughtful look on his features.

xxx

Zoro was right; Luffy _had_ stolen the bed. Kicking the vampire, and stealing his blankets back while Luffy whined at him helped Zoro feel a bit better about sleeping on the floor, and Luffy sprawled himself under the sheet, snoring lightly in a few minutes. Zoro would’ve probably just shared the bed, had he not previously seen exactly what Luffy did while asleep; wriggle around like a worm, take all the blankets, kick anyone within a foot-wide radius, and somehow end up on every square inch of the bed possible.

Making himself a semi-comfy nest on the side away from the door – where Luffy wouldn’t tread on his face if Sanji decided to cook breakfast for them and the vampire sprinted for the door – Zoro plunked himself down on the floor.

 _Stupid Luffy,_ he thought to himself with a snort, remembering how the teen had tried to chatter his ear off with stories during dinner and then completely rushed through his explanation of why the bed was on fire, and instead of the usual irritation Zoro would feel when dealing with those who made stupid mistakes, the green-haired swordsman was confused to feel a fond sort of smile and laugh threaten to show themselves to the world.

 _Well that made sense_ , he thought, purposefully distracting himself from thinking to deeply about that feeling, _they **were** friends._

But did friends really not mind when their bed was stolen? Most of them might not’ve, but Zoro wasn’t most people, and being friends with him wasn’t like being friends with anyone else. He called Usopp, Vivi and Chopper (and even Nami and Sanji, loathe as he was to admit it to their faces,) his friends, but he’d probably never let them take his bed if there was space on the floor.

So why would he let _Luffy_ get away with it? Luffy was easily twice as annoying as Usopp, unbowed by the glares Zoro would send his way, and purposefully distracting like Chopper never was. So _why_ did Zoro hang around him? Why did he let Luffy attach himself to Zoro like a limpet, when the swordsman rarely let anyone get close enough to hug him half the time?

Why did he let Luffy distract and tease and annoy and touch him, without ever getting truly angry or irritated by the younger boy’s behaviour?

Zoro had made it a point to never lie to anyone, and his own mind was no exception to this rule, no matter how much he kind of wished that he wasn’t as blunt and insulting to himself as he actually was.

So, with those questions buzzing around his mind, he found his mind answering, as blunt as he always was in real life _; because you **like** him, you brainless idiot_.

_And not just as a friend, before you try and delude yourself. You don’t let Chopper and Usopp – your **friends** – get away with **half** the stuff you let Luffy get away with. _

_You like him – a **lot.**_   

“Oh,” Zoro breathed, a whisper to the silence that wasn’t even a proper sound as it was the breath leaving his lungs, and he took another breath to steady himself, rolling over to see where Luffy’s knuckles grazed the floor.

 _Shit,_ he swore mentally, scrunching his brow and trying to pretend that he hadn’t just come to that realisation, but the more he thought about it, the more he came to realise that it just _fit._

 _Shit,_ he thought again, _shit shit shit, that's not good._

He wondered if it’d feel like a punch to the gut when reality hit. It certainly felt a bit like that now, as a traitorous part of his mind whispered _if you tell him about it, he’ll probably not want to be your friend. Remember how awkward it was for you when Johnny did it? Remember how you couldn’t look at him without thinking about what_ he _was thinking about you? You lost his friendship because of that. What if you lost_ Luffy’s _friendship?_

And it came as a surprise to feel how much that prospect made his chest feel hollow and _empty_.

Falling apart was easier than fixing things again; Zoro knew that like he knew the steady beat of Luffy’s heart underneath his open palm, and even as he tried to think of ways that it would make sense, that he could try and see moments where it was possible Luffy would be attracted to guys, he knew he was just fooling himself.

Even if Luffy had never shown any interest in girls whatsoever, he hadn’t shown any interest in _guys,_ either.

He’d talk to Luffy about it. He wasn’t a coward...

He’d just-

Wait a bit.

He’d just see if Luffy would be opposed to the idea first.

After all, he didn’t have to say anything Luffy right away, did he? Luffy could always just admit _he_ liked Zoro first – and, considering how horrible the vampire was at lying or keeping secrets, if he even (or ever) liked Zoro, he’d probably blurt it out in two seconds after realising.

Plan made, Zoro nodded to himself and forced himself to turn over before he did something embarrassing like count the freckles on Luffy’s arm, or try and touch the other’s hand and feel the calluses he knew rested on Luffy’s fingertips and palm. Still, his mind buzzed, and his skin felt jittery, a sour feeling in his mouth even though he’d cleaned his teeth hours before.

He didn’t get much sleep that night.

xxxx

The morning after (and oh god he definitely could've phrased that a better way, thank you ever-so-much brain,) was spent awkwardly trying to pretend that absolutely _nothing_ had changed.

It was a less than stellar plan, Zoro realized, especially after Luffy crammed into his usual spot on the couch, everything from his shoulder to his knees pressed close and comforting to Zoro as they ate their breakfast. It took all he had not to involuntarily stiffen, and even as he tried to fight the urge to gain even an extra centimetre of space he felt unnaturally stiff. Forcing himself to relax didn't help either, as his relaxed pose wasn't so much relaxed as it was the pose of a dead man realizing that; _'I'm probably going to be set on fire shit shit shit.'_

Why was it that now he'd realized his less than platonic feelings for his friend he could barely stand to be within five feet of Luffy without thinking of how Luffy's mouth would feel stretched into a grin against his collarbone, or the tingles that raced up his arm from their touch? And _why,_ exactly, did he have to realise them while Luffy’s extremely overprotective, fire-wielding _brother_ was in the damn building!?

Ace cast a suspicious glance from Luffy to Zoro, brow furrowing as though he were trying to work something out, and Zoro felt like bashing his head into the table and letting out a few sobs to help relieve his tension. If that wouldn't have made Ace even more confused and suspicious he probably would have done it, too. Luffy continued chattering away, completely oblivious to Zoro's growing disconcertion and attempts to stay looking unconcerned, and Ace's perusal of the human in a series of semi-glares and appraising glances.

The next few days were going to be _torture._

(“Nice dinosaur boxers, by the way,” Nami sniggered at him when the three finally went down for lunch, and Zoro groaned, trying to remember if he saw that damn woman carrying a camera with her when they were all woken up yesterday.)

  x x x x x

Ace cornered him before he was getting ready to leave, and the imp's posture was more than enough to tell Zoro that he was screwed.

_'Goodbye world, it was nice knowing yah. To Nami I leave my debt, because she can pay herself back.'_

"You," Ace started, folding his arms over his chest.

"Me?" Zoro cursed his mouth for even opening as Ace's expression became even more threatening and cross-looking.

"Yes you, you snarky shit." Wisely, Zoro kept his mouth shut this time, and Ace coughed into his hand politely, reschooling his features into something less threatening and more psychopathic mobster. "If you want to date my little brother you're going to have to pass some tests first. Fighting tests. And also thinking tests because Luffy doesn't do very much of that sometimes."

"What." Zoro said, completely flabbergasted. Ace paused, before a look of pure embarrassment came onto his features.

"Wait, so you _don't_ want to date Luffy? Oh well, sorry for mixing up your intentions. W-O-W I misread the signals in there."

"No I mean why is _this_ your reaction? _Are you not concerned or anything!?”_ His voice held more confusion then he would have liked, and a panicky note entered his tone. “How did you even tell, I _literally_ just figured it out a few days ago!”

Ace comfortingly patted him on the shoulder, because they were friends, and then proceeded to punch Zoro in said shoulder because he was an older brother and decorum decreed he must. "Luffy can take care of himself, if you try anything he doesn’t like. Besides, he may be oblivious and impulsive, but he’s not _that_ stupid. Anyway, I was honestly waiting more for you to ask me my blessing to date him then you having _just_ having figured it out, haha."

Zoro glared, and Ace patted his shoulder again, shit-eating grin on his features at Zoro's expression. "If it's any consolation he probably likes you too. Also you're pretty cool so I don't mind you dating my little brother." A firey finger pressed into his nose, and Ace's eyes crackled with sparks, his glare almost as deadly as his flames. "But if you hurt him I swear I'll hunt you down and light everything you have on _fire_. You will _never_ be safe from me if you break my little brother's heart, you got that?"

The sprinklers went off.

Ace and Zoro yelped as they were doused with a spray of cold water, and as Ace's flames fizzled out the fire alarm began to blare. “ _OUT_!” Ace screeched, quickly sprinting for the door, and Zoro ran after, trying to be heard over the noise.

"DID YOU HEAR ME?"

"WHAT?" Ace screamed back, fingers plugged in his ears as he ran.

"I SAID OKAY!"

" _WHAT_?" Ace shouted again. "

I SAID," Zoro repeated, "I PROMISE NOT TO HURT LUFFY!"

Ace shouted something back, and Zoro leaned in to try and hear him better.

"WHAT?"

"OKAY THEN!"

Coming into the open air, both breathed a sigh of relief, and Ace began to pat himself dry, finding the least wet patch on his clothes to dry his hands and then heating himself up. Zoro, on the other hand, just shed his shirt and began to wring it out. Their little group was soon joined by a trickle of the others; Usopp sprinting out with a wail and Nami directing (ordering, it sounded more like) Sanji to do something. Luffy, completely uncaring of the sun – and any other danger as he always was – was dragged out laughing by Chopper, who looked to be fighting the urge to rear and buck.

Ace didn’t mention anything more of the conversation, and Zoro was thankfully a bit glad; he wouldn’t have really appreciated it if Ace had tried to continue the discussion of his ‘ _feelings’_ with everyone else nearby.

Although, if Ace had seen it in the three days he’d been staying with them, maybe the others had seen it too.

Now _that_ was a sobering, terrifying thought.

The amount of _blackmail_ Nami must’ve gotten on him. Zoro shivered, and was thankful that to anyone watching it probably looked like he was cold from their sudden shower.

Ace had gone to apologise to Nami and Usopp, bowing his head and explaining what had happened, and although Usopp started to lord it over him, a quick punch from Nami stopped that in its tracks. Zoro wandered away to join Luffy and Chopper, firmly telling himself that it most _definitely_ wasn’t because he was a lovesick fool and wanted to get closer to Luffy.

He just wanted to give Chopper a hand. Luffy wasn’t exactly the best rider when the deerboy was in a panic, and although that probably was _most_ of his reasoning, he couldn’t fool the part of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Nami, cackling away in his head, and the stern voice of Kuina, telling him not to be such a thick-headed and blissfully ignorant fool.

 _Damn witch,_ he thought, as Luffy chattered excitedly away about how he’d been hanging out with Chopper and Usopp when the fire alarm and the sprinklers had gone off, and weren’t sprinklers just _awesome_ it was like being in the rain or having a shower but _indoors._

Zoro conveniently didn’t mention that most people _did_ have showers indoors, and then very firmly told his brain to stop staring at Luffy’s water streaked hair, plastered to his face, or the wide grin he was sporting, despite the weather conditions or the evacuation that everyone had just gone through to escape the building.

 _Tell him now,_ his brain suggested, like it’d been doing for the past few days, and Zoro firmly told _that_ part of his head to shut up as well.

 _I’ll tell him when I’m good and ready, you got that?_ Thankfully, his brain seemed to take his short-fused hint, and shut up for a little while to listen to Luffy talk, letting the words wash over him and not even fully concentrating on what the vampire was saying, brain a bit foggy from his lack of sleep.

Since they couldn’t replace Luffy’s bed right away, (the scattered pieces of a bed frame on the floor in Luffy’s room, along with many memories of all the men in the apartment cursing like sailors,) Ace, Luffy, and Zoro had alternated between sleeping arrangements, and Zoro hadn’t been getting much sleep, especially after his realisation of the days before.

He may have _told_ himself not to act any different, or that he wasn’t going to think about his friend any different, but applying that in theory was easier than applying it in real life.

In fact, he’d suffice to say that it was probably only his stubbornness at this point that was actually causing all the problems, as one part of his head argued against telling Luffy, one argued for, and one part argued for completely ignoring the incident and sticking his fingers in his ears every time the other parts of his head even thought about his crush on Luffy.

As the part that told him to get over himself and just _tell_ the vampire sounded suspiciously like Nami and Kuina, he was quite firmly listening to the little voices that argued against saying anything – ever.

Maybe if he ignored it for long enough, it’d just eventually go away?

Zoro gave a snort, rolling his eyes. Even Luffy wasn’t stupid enough to believe that, and Luffy had believed at one point that Vivi was a whale.

A _whale._

Realising that Luffy had been talking to him and had now stopped, a hurt look on his face, it occurred to Zoro that he probably shouldn’t have made any outward indication of his thoughts at all, especially considering that Luffy now sported a very heartbreaking expression that made part of Zoro’s heart shrivel up a bit.

So much for ignoring it. If his heart did things like that every time Luffy looked even remotely sad, he was totally screwed.

He swore mentally, trying to figure out how to amend his mistake, but Luffy had already turned away to Chopper and now refused to be talked with, ignoring Zoro’s attempts at remaking conversation.

(Chopper, stuck in the middle of the two, adopted a very panicked, awkward expression, unsure of how to handle the situation.

‘Help,’ he mouthed at Usopp, who very firmly shook his head ‘no’.

Chopper almost started crying then.)


End file.
